Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg poses at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 5, 2007. In an about-face following a torrent of online protests, Facebook is backing off a change in its user policies while it figures how best to resolve questions like who controls the information shared on the social networking site. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Photo: Paul Sakuma, AP

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg poses at Facebook...

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In this screen grab provided by Facebook, a sample home page featuring Facebook's new design changes is shown. The popular online hangout is revamping its home page and plans other changes so its millions of users can more easily choose the types of information they see. (AP Photo/Facebook) ** NO SALES **

Facebook's recent redesign, intended to make it more of destination for real-time information, is being panned by some users who complain that the changes make it more difficult to keep in touch with friends, not easier, as the company promised.

Some members have even formed protest groups to pressure Facebook to reconsider the revamp, which began rolling out late last week, and are enlisting others to join them. One group, "One million against the new Facebook look," had 254,512 members as of Tuesday afternoon.

Christine Ledo, a veterinary technician in Oakland, said she's upset that Facebook changed how it handles what she called "passive information." Previously, she could see in her feed when a friend connected with someone else or joined a group. It tipped her off to people she might also want to friend or groups she might want to join. Now, she complains, the information appears in a different place or not at all.

Ledo said she's giving Facebook a month to fix the problem. Every day the company doesn't, she said, she sends it a message. If Facebook doesn't respond after a month, Ledo said, "I am deleting my account."

Facebook, in Palo Alto, is frequently criticized by its users, highlighting how vital it has become in their lives. A little change can potentially have a major impact on the 175 million people globally who depend on the service to help manage their social lives.

In 2007, a grassroots effort forced Facebook to retreat from its much-derided Beacon advertising initiative, which broadcast users' transactions. Last month, the company found itself in hot water again for changing its terms of service, prompting executives to promise revisions that are to be put up for a vote.

Facebook did not respond to requests for comment about the redesign.

Criticism about Facebook's changes range from the site being too cluttered to features that don't work to the service's new resemblance to Twitter, the increasingly popular micro-blogging site.

"Unfortunately, the end user isn't in charge of the design," said Kurt Scherf, an analyst with Parks Associates. "It's about whatever is going to maximize revenue, page views and advertising dollars down the road."

A relatively new Facebook user himself, Scherf said he's having trouble finding requests from friends to connect following the latest redesign.

But he said Facebook isn't in danger of any long-term damage. People have spent so much time personalizing their Facebook pages that it's difficult for them to defect to other sites.

Not everyone is complaining. Russell Imrie, an unemployed machinist from Redwood Estates in the Santa Cruz Mountains, said he likes the real-time updates that now flow into his feed. Previously, users had to wait about 10 minutes, refresh the page or click on a link called "live feed."

He acknowledged that some of his friends hate any change to Facebook and consider it a public utility. He said he's still 70 percent satisfied with the site, and the other 30 percent represents some quibbles he has with the Web site's underlying design, which wasn't impacted by the overhaul.